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conscious eating
The Gift of Yum Homemade Treats Spark Holiday Cheer by April Thompson
G
ift-givers seeking memorable presents while avoiding holiday shopping stress need look no further than the kitchen. Edible homemade gifts make special, welcome treats, help slow down the shopping frenzy of the season and increase creativity in the kitchen. While 79 percent of recipients return some holiday gifts every year, food and handmade items rank in the top 10 treasured gifts, according to Survey Monkey research.
Mackenzie Burgess, a Fort Collins, Colorado, dietitian and recipe developer at Cheerful Choices, encourages holiday gift-givers to think beyond the Christmas cookie. One of her go-to holiday gifts, a lentil and brown rice dry soup mix, features colorful dry ingredients layered in a Mason jar and the recipe attached with a pretty ribbon. “This shelf-stable dry soup mix is the perfect, plant-based meal to make on a chilly night, and makes for a unique, affordable and thoughtful gift,” says Burgess, adding that the Mason jars can be repurposed. For a sweet but healthy treat, Burgess offers freezer-friendly energy bites, which can be made in large quantities in advance and frozen or refrigerated, then popped into jars at gift time. These gluten-free, vegan treats can be made with common pantry items, including a base of oats, nut butter and a sweetener like honey or agave, as well as “fixings” such as shredded coconut, dried cranberries or goji berries, chopped nuts, or chia or flax seeds to boost the flavor and nutrition. Natural food coloring can also be added to foster a more festive look. To give a gift a “wow” factor, blogger Shelley Fulton, in Hudson, Ohio, recommends making a themed basket that may include a mix of homemade and purchased items. “You can take your signature spice rub or that homemade soup mix everyone raves about and expand into a gift basket with other products
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